Public invited to help dream and design improvements in local parks

ROCHESTER HILLS — The public is invited to help shape the future of four community parks during two upcoming open house events hosted by the city of Rochester Hills.

The two open houses will allow visitors to explore the future possibilities for Bloomer Park, Brooklands Plaza, Nowicki Park and Spencer Park.

Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett said the city’s parks are one of the many reasons people love living in Rochester Hills.

“I’m thrilled to welcome visitors from all walks of life to join us as we imagine the future of these important community spaces,” Barnett said in a statement.

The first open house will be held 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, in the Calf Barn at the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm, 1005 Van Hoosen Road in Rochester Hills. There will be two brief introductions, one at 1 p.m. and another at 2:30 p.m.

During the event, guests can visit any of the four stations — each dedicated to one of the parks — where they can receive an overview of the ideas and input gathered in the city’s master plan surveys conducted last year and the visual surveys conducted in October.

The stations will showcase options and visual representations of how certain features may look together in the future.

“People can weigh in and see all of the designs of all four of the parks at all four tables, or, if they are interested in a specific park, they can stop just at that table, see the conceptual design, and share whether they like it or dislike the features within the actual design,” said Dennis Andrews, the parks manager for the city of Rochester Hills.

The second open house — which will run in a similar fashion to the first — will be held 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14, on the second floor of City Hall, 1000 Rochester Hills Drive in Rochester Hills. There will be a brief introduction at 6 p.m. and another at 7:30 p.m.

Participants will also be invited to share their thoughts on what features they would prefer, getting the city’s Parks and Natural Resources Department one step closer to finalizing the road map for each park’s future.

“The ultimate goal of these is to get another round of the public’s input,” said Andrews. “After the open house, we will keep revising the design, looking at those results, and try to come up with a firm conceptual design that will be voted on by the City Council as the master plan for each site for the future. At that point, we will have a plan for what’s going to be happening within the next three to five years.”

No registration is involved for either event; people may just show up at their convenience.

For more information, visit rochesterhills.org or contact the Parks and Natural Resources Department at (248) 656-4673.